Geothermally heated fluid has historically been used for direct heating but has more recently been harnessed to produce electricity. Electricity generated through geothermal power stations has been shown to be reliable, sustainable and environmentally friendly. Since geothermal power requires no fuel (except for running pumps in some power stations) it is insulated from fossil fuel cost fluctuations and dependencies. Geothermal power production also has significantly lower emissions of greenhouse gases when compared to fossil fuel electricity production methods and therefore has the potential to help mitigate global warming if widely deployed in place of fossil fuels.
One major advantage over other renewable energy sources such as wind or solar is that geothermal power does not suffer from the intermittent supply inherent in these methods. As a result, it also reduces the need for energy storage capabilities. Despite the traditional limitations of geothermal power plants requiring near-surface geothermal activity, recent advances in technology have dramatically expanded the scope of areas which can support geothermal power production.
Geothermal electricity is mainly produced via two methods. The first method produced from flash steam power plants is generally employed in areas with high temperature geothermal fluids and involves “flashing” the geothermal fluid. This involves passing the high-pressure fluid into lower-pressure tanks to achieve the separation of the fluid into steam and separated geothermal water (SGW). The resulting steam is used to drive turbines while the SGW is either re-injected into the ground or passed into a single stage binary cycle plant where further electricity is extracted from the SGW. The second method of electricity generation is through use of a two stage binary cycle power station. These plants involve the separating of steam and SGW in a flash plant with both the geothermal fluid and the steam being passed through different heat exchangers and used to vaporise a low boiling point secondary fluid (typically pentane) which in turn drives a turbine for electricity production. The cooled geothermal fluid is typically re-injected or passed into above-ground watercourses. Binary cycle power stations are able to operate with much cooler initial geothermal fluid temperatures.
Geothermal fluids contain a number of ionic species and particulate matter originating from rocks in the earth's crust. When energy is extracted from the geothermal source stream, the reduction in temperature causes a decrease in solubility of a number of dissolved species which can lead to their precipitation. This process of precipitation can be beneficial when used to extract the dissolved species. However, if too much heat is extracted, the dissolved species will precipitate out of solution leading to scaling and fouling of pipes, watercourses and other equipment. In addition, where geothermal fluids are re-injected into the ground, precipitation of species around the re-injection site can result in underground blockages and reduction in flow. Geothermal sources differ in the concentrations of dissolved species depending on geological composition. However, the precipitation problem is a major limitation preventing effective utilisation and energy recovery from geothermal sources. Enabling further energy recovery from existing geothermal sources would have major economic benefits and assist in the movement away from fossil fuel power.
A significant component of the geothermal fluid is silica (silicon dioxide). Extraction of silica is desirable to avoid the precipitation problems described above during energy recovery. One study estimates that 25% more power could be generated from exploitable geothermal resources if silica could be successfully extracted (Harper et al. 1992). In addition, precipitated silica and colloidal silica are valuable commodities in their own right with a range of industrial applications.
Prior to precipitation, silica particles form by spontaneous nucleation of the parent monomeric silicic acid species. These monomers subsequently grow by polymerization to form polymeric primary silica particles which attain a physical dimension of about 1.5 nm (Harper, 1997—U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,717A). These particles can either grow by acquiring more monomers to form a colloid, or the particles can aggregate leading to formation of a gelatinous substance known as silica gel. Silica colloids are simply large silica polymers that naturally take on a spherical shape due to surface forces. A ten nanometre colloid contains approximately 15,000 silica molecules. Depending on the conditions and presence of certain coagulants, silica particles may precipitate out of solution as a solid to form a suspension.
Despite the longstanding recognition of the problem of silica precipitation from geothermal waters, commercially viable solutions to deal with the problem by extraction of silica are yet to emerge. Known methods have focused on extraction of silica from low temperature sources (i.e. <75° C.) with low silica concentrations (i.e. <275 ppm). Extraction has been carried out on sources that have already undergone energy extraction.
Colloidal silica is most often prepared in a multi-step process from sodium silicate. The general principle is to remove sodium from sodium silicate via cation exchange. Without the sodium, polymerization takes place and particles begin to grow. An alkali-silicate solution is partially neutralized which leads to the formation of silica nuclei in the range of 1 to 5 nm. Initial acidification of a sodium silicate solution yields Si(OH)4. The pH is kept slightly on the alkaline side of neutral to ensure that the subunits stay separated and colloidal silica gradually grows. The colloidal suspension is stabilized by pH adjustment and then concentrated, usually by evaporation. The maximum concentration obtainable depends on the particle size. For example, 50 nm particles can be concentrated to greater than 50 m % solids while 10 nm particles can only be concentrated to approximately 30 m % solids before the suspension becomes too unstable.
It is an object of the invention to provide a method of producing a colloidal silica concentrate from a geothermal fluid, or at least to provide the public with a useful choice.